


The Great Depths

by StarPrincess



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/M, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-02 09:55:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16302965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarPrincess/pseuds/StarPrincess
Summary: You were a good girl. You were told to avoid men like him. Charming. Gorgeous. Smart. Why couldn't you follow that advice this time?ErwinxReaderModern AU.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> I wanted to get back into the habit of writing again so I thought I'd post another story in celebration of my darling Danchou's birthday! I wanted to do something kind of different and see what happens. I don't have a plot in mind and I'm not sure where this will go but hopefully you'll enjoy it!

It was the party of the century. Or at least that's what your friend told you to get you to come. 

"Pretend to care about the charity du jour and eat some good food, free, courtesy of rich people," she said, as she handed you her extra ticket that served as an invitation to the event.

Nanaba was invited through work connections and while she was there to network and keep an eye out for opportunities for her company, you were there to well, give her a tiny ounce of moral support. Not that she needed any. She was competent enough for the both of you, as was apparent in your many years of friendship but Nanaba knew that you had been feeling down lately. There was nothing specific to the cause of the niggling malaise that settled at the back of your mind but it came suddenly. Nana wanted you to get some help but you brushed it off. It wasn't something that you could explain to just anyone. How could you even begin to describe that empty feeling that crept up suddenly in your psyche? It didn't really make you sad per se. It was just... 

Longing. 

A serious, deep, yearning.

For what, you weren't sure.

The reason, even more obscure.

For now, you mentally waved that sentiment away, trying not to trip as you walked up the narrow stairs to a palatial manor. Live jazz music floated into the balmy evening. Despite the calmness of it all, you shivered, anxiously watching Nanaba from the corner of your eye. She had vetoed your theatre-expensive restaurant-slightly fancy summer dress and lent you a skintight halter top gown. It was a beautiful thing, with intricate beading on the top that sparkled with the chandeliers and a gauzy, flowing long skirt. You protested the choice at first.

"Nana, I can't borrow this! It's white! I'll totally ruin it. I'm going to get food all over it or I'll walk into someone with wine and stain it and then probably trip and fall into dirt and you'll end with a dress that's been dyed into some disgusting colour!" you protested. 

"Stop fidgeting," she scolded while focusing on her fingers that were twined in your hair. She was weaving a crown of braids in your hair with small pearled pins to add as accents. "Look [Y/N], this is your mission for the evening. You're going to walk in there with me, observing people with those doe eyes of yours, looking all angelic standing beside me."

A black business-like dress hung behind you, waiting for Nanaba to be slipped on. 

"They're going to go flirt with my sweet little [Y/N] and they'll know that if they want to do that, they have to play nice with me."

"So you're using me as bait," you intoned.

"No, you're going as my foil. You'll be the lovely harmless one to show that I'm the one that they want to talk to and be serious with."

"So you're saying I don't look like the kind of person who can be serious."

"No, I'm saying you'll be there for fun and I'll be there for business. We'll make each other look good in our respective playing fields." 

"I'm not there to flirt with anyone, Nana," 

"You don't have to if you don't want to," she said, patting you gently on the shoulder. "Though if you do, I have to warn you, keep away from the big bosses. You'll know them since everyone will fawn over them and they are pretty unscrupulous with their relationships. I hear the CEO of MP, Nile whatsit, is a total sleeze." 

You nodded gently as not to ruin Nanaba's work in your hair, while silently doubting that you'd attract anyone's attention that night, let alone the attentions of an important corporate bigwig.

Your suspicions seemed confirmed as you walked into the room. Everyone seemed to be chatting in their own groups already, and you followed Nana as she effortlessly walked up to a tall man with a light dusting of rose on her cheeks talking to a few other people in a circle. You barely got their names and just as you caught your friend walking in another direction in the room, she suddenly disappeared in a sea of people. Her former group had also dissipated and you were left alone in a grand ballroom wondering what to do. 

You walked slowly in search of food, trying to stay calm and take in the sights. It was a splendid house, after all, with tall ceilings and large windows that peered into immaculately kept gardens of rose vines and romantic trellises. You took a deep breath. You were going to enjoy this. Just savour the moment. 

With a composed smile, you walked towards the food table in the corner, slightly excited to eat for the first time in hours. As you walked towards your destination, you looked around, hoping to perhaps spot a door that led outside. You were going to make this night memorable and if eating good food under the stars in a Cinderella-like dress wasn't bliss, you had no clue what was. 

Suddenly, you caught another set of eyes from across the room. They were a shade of blue reminiscent of the ocean in paradise. The man's eyes fixed upon yours and you held his gaze, your breath caught in your throat. He was a stranger, his blond hair, parted neatly, contrasting with his navy suit. 

For a moment, time stopped.

It almost felt like it went backwards.


	2. Angel in White

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies this came a little late! I meant for this to be posted on Monday but I got distracted. Sorry. >_<
> 
> Hopefully the beginning isn't too slow. I am a planner through and through but as I mentioned in the last chapter, I have no clue where I'm going with this. I have a general gut feeling - the rating may or may not change by the way - and I'm letting that take me wherever this goes. I generally don't have any idea what to write until the day I'm supposed to update this so this story will be a cool experiment for me. I just hope you enjoy the ride!
> 
> Thank you for reading and enjoy!

In the moment when your eyes met, the world melted away, frozen in that tiny moment. Time had never stopped for him. For Erwin Smith, zero to CEO in a matter of years, life was a winding road with no reprieve. No stopping, just running from project to project, directing all the moving parts to conduct a grand symphony. The furious music never stopped. But suddenly it did. 

The strangest feeling overtook him and the usually calm leader felt his breath catch in his throat, a sudden dizziness overtaking him. He held himself up with no change to his demeanour but his moment of weakness made him lose sight of his angel in white. With his next intake of breath, he took in moments that felt so achingly familiar and yet so definitively impossible. 

Gentle rustling, silence, and the smell of books. Many of them, surrounding him in tall, gleaming wooden shelves, hiding him from the rest of the world. Exasperated sighs, followed by a quiet giggle as he wrapped his arms around her frame, drawing on the comfort of her presence.

Bubbles, glowing in a dazzlingly clear lake, surrounding him as he looked for her form floating nearby. A delighted scream rang out into the wilderness as he emerged, his arms around the bare flesh of her waist, lifting her high above the water, her hair cascading in delicate rivulets on her chest. 

A reluctant walk across a lush landscape, her constant fingers beckoning him to come. A trail of snowdrops sprouting and blooming where her feet touched the ground. Tendrils of vines reaching forward, wrapping around his wrist, teasingly pulling his arm if he threatened to stop. He felt a small smile form on his face, knowing that he could not resist the pull. 

None of these memories were his. Yet somewhere in his heart, he knew that they were real. The only thing that made them just that was her. 

He started in her general direction but he was stopped mid-stride by a grey-haired man, Darius Zackly.

“Erwin!” the older man cried jovially. “Just the man we’re looking for!” Behind him were Nile Dok and Dot Pixis, other CEOs that sponsored the charity gala. 

“Hey friend,” Nile grumbled, giving him a firm pat on the back. The two of them were by no means strangers, being roommates in university.

“Where’s Marie?” Erwin inquired. Nile enjoyed flaunting his wife in front of the blonde man to show that he had “won” her in the end. 

“Feeling a little sick with the pregnancy and all,” answered Nile, sipping deeply in his champagne glass. “Better for me, I say. More ladies to fawn over me.” His friend wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. He didn’t much care for his old flame these days but why she ended up with Nile was still a mystery. Maybe he needed to be more thankful to his college buddy. Marie was beautiful, for sure, and yet, in retrospect, he had no depth of feeling for her. He didn’t have the primal need to scour the grounds for her, as he wanted to for his angel in white. 

“It’s time to do our corporate duty,” stated Zackly. “Hope you have a good speech prepared.”

Erwin’s heart fell. He had to get up on stage and agonizingly expound upon the virtues of whatever charity they were supporting this year. With the rest of the men, he trudged up to the podium, with a neutral smile on his face. Like clockwork, he read his speech, his eyes wandering over the crowd. You were not among the sea of faces looking up at him. He could barely contain his disappointment as his final words were met with the expected applause.

As he turned to leave the stage, a sudden breeze brought the smell of roses from the lush gardens outside. The clouds parted, revealing a full moon, its light casting a faint glow on a figure in white sitting on a stone bench outside. 

Erwin should’ve joined the audience, applauding as his business partners made their speeches, pass out flutes of champagne to the others and toast them for a lovely evening, talk Pixis into that plan to expand their joint business venture, a million different things. But he didn’t. 

He ran straight to you.


End file.
